Traveling Blind
by poppinjaysies
Summary: Fourteen-year-old Emily hits her head and mysteriously ends up in M-E unable to get out...but when she is rescused by the man(or in her case, Hobbit)of her dreams, will she really want to? No mary-sue. ::PG-13 just in case::NOT DONE YET, FOLKS!
1. Entrance and Exit

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story. Lord of the Rings and all its characters belong to the wonderful J.R.R. Tolkien. (Damn.) The only characters and places I own are any originals and me, myself, and I, and my house. Oh,yes...I forgot. I own Frodo. (whispers) I DON'T?? SINCE WHEN?  
  
Oh. Right. Tolkien. I knew that.(damn)  
  
Chapter One: Entrance and Exit  
  
_Monday has got to be the worst day of the week,_ Emily thought as she heavily dropped her schoolbag to the floor and threw her coat on top of it. _First day back to school off the weekend and they give us twenty freakin' pounds of homework!  
_  
Emily's angry mumbling was followed a long, incessant stream of curse words.  
  
She wasn't always like this. Today had just been a really horrible day. Or, worse than usual, anyway. According to Emily, any day but the weekend was awful, but she had awesome friends who generally agreed with her and they usually helped her bear them. Usually. Today had not been one of those days, which was why Emily was now lying spread-eagled on her unmade bed, glaring at her ceiling.  
  
Going back over the day's events in her mind, she began to think that maybe she was overreacting slightly, although it is completely justified to be angry at the world when your friends ditch you on purpose and pretend they aren't aware of the fact (this happened quite frequently, but she had been extremely aggravated already), and you fail one test and get a B on another. And she could probably look forward to a letter from her dumbass principal in the next week because her grades were suddenly dropping ever so slightly.  
  
Calmer, but still fuming, Emily sighed, rolled off her bed, and stomped her way into the bathroom. Stepping into the hot and steaming shower soothed her battered personal ego immediately, and gave her more time to console herself and defend her teacher's causes. Still, she'd never been happier to get out of school.  
  
Twenty wonderfully long minutes later, the shower was turned off, and she stepped out and began to towel herself off. Right at that moment, the telephone rang. She quickly wrapped herself in her towel and ran to get it, but forgetting about the water on the floor, slipped and fell **hard**, falling in a tangled heap and hitting the back of her head on the (very hard and very flat) bathroom floor. "Ooooohhhhhh". The pain was excruciating and getting up was impossible. Had she busted a nerve falling like that?  
  
_Oww. Maybe I'll just...lie here for a second...._ The pain still wasn't going away, and stars, actual stars, danced and glittered in front of Emily's eyes. That had never happened before.... Something was wrong.  
  
Before that thought was complete, Emily's head gave a violent throb. The ringing of the telephone faded, and the whole world swam into black.

:: :: :: :: :: ::

Meanwhile, at the same moment in another time, Frodo Baggins narrowly escaped being shoved headfirst into a snowdrift outside the Green Dragon. His cousins, Peregrin and Meriadoc, had drunkenly decided that it would be extremely funny if Frodo, "that stiff-collared, gentlemanly bastard of a relative", got flung out of the bar just for being there.  
  
"And don't come back, you miserable sod!" Those two. _How _he'd ever gotten related to them was beyond his comprehension. Frodo, smiling in spite of himself, dusted himself off and began to trudge home.  
  
A/N: This is the second attempt at this chapter, i am just now learning how this works...ugh...

Well, what do you think so far?? ::grin:: Not bad for the first chapter of my first fic, huh? I'll try to be back with chapter 2 as soon as possible, but I've been on the comp way longer than I was supposed to be this weekend so I'm probably beyond all hope of getting back on until next weekend. Plus, my English final starts this week. Ugh. Read and review, and no flames, please!


	2. Discovery

Yay! I got computer time again AND was able to edit chapter1!! Go back and read the **good** version, please!! :-D Hehe. Three reviews! Thank you so much to the following peeps for all their advice:  
  
amenity-- Thank you! I appreciate it :-D I was rushed on this chapter (really wanted to get it up) so hopefully my next ones will be much better. :-) And no, Emily is most definitely not a Mary-Sue! Not if I can help it, mwuhahahaha!  
  
In the Depp End-- Teehee! I do plan to keep writing! Thanx for your advice about the separation of sections, I tried to and it wouldn't come out that way the first time...:-( I fixed it now! lol yay I'm learning!  
  
frodomeg-- Thank you!!! So glad you enjoyed it!  
  
And now, without further ado:  
  
Chapter Two: Discovery  
  
Emily's eyes felt as if they were being pressed into her head. She forced them open and found herself staring up at a large crack in the ceiling. How could there be a crack in the ceiling from hitting the floor? She blinked. The crack was moving back and forth. Emily blinked again, and as the world came slowly into focus, she realized she was looking, not at a crack, but a bare tree branch. She was outside?  
  
As the pain in her head and eyes receded, she became aware that she was lying on something soft and wet, and she was freezing. She sat up slowly to agonizing pain and reflexively put her hand behind her head to keep herself from falling. She was outside, and in the snow, but where and when? It had been early May when she'd hit her head, not more than a month into spring.  
  
Confusedly trying to gather her thoughts, she realized to her horror that her towel had fallen off and was lying in a crumpled, nearly frozen heap next to her. Momentarily mortified, she looked around, but there was no sign of life of any kind. Standing up, she wrapped herself tightly in her towel as best she could with her numb hands, and looked around. She was in a forest. Even through her leftover dizziness she noticed the sheer beauty of...wherever she was. Her ideal dream hideout had always been a wood in winter. She shook her head. There would be time for daydreams later. First, she had to find a way out of her sanctuary. She stared around, but there was no road to follow, only ice-covered trees and some drooping weeds. To make matters worse, it started snowing. _Great._ Frantically, she spun around and looked for shelter, finding only a hole in a hollow tree trunk. Quickly, she dodged into it, pulled her towel over herself, and hid her face in her knees.

:: :: :: :: :: ::

Frodo stumbled through the snow, still laughing about his cousins' drunken antics. He'd told himself time and again not to go drinking with them, to make up any excuse to keep himself out of trouble; yet he never actually _listened_ to himself, which explained why he was presently walking home in the freezing cold of one of those annual Hobbiton blizzards that always came without warning and wreaked havoc everywhere. Although...one couldn't help but enjoy the view. Frodo laughed to himself again. He couldn't really be blamed--_he_ hadn't even tasted a beer this evening.  
  
A sudden icy wind startled him out of his reverie. It had begun snowing again, and he wasn't even halfway home. As he pulled his coat more tightly around himself, he vowed to take his revenge on Merry and Pippin with a brutal snowball fight.  
  
Having stumbled blindly into a clearing, Frodo paused. Looking down, trying to find traces of the road leading to Bag End, he noticed something odd. There were footprints in the middle of the clearing, but they hadn't come from any direction. They were just...there. What was more, they were very small, surely not Hobbit footprints.  
  
"Hello?" Frodo's voice echoed around the clearing, but no answer met his call. "Is there anyone there?"  
  
He stared around, looking for the source of the footprints, but saw only trees. Bemused, he turned to go.  
  
::Sniff::  
  
Frodo turned back around, bewildered. Then he noticed something. Amid the trees, something bright green stood out at the bottom of a trunk. Walking up to it, he did a double take--sitting huddled on the frozen ground, wrapped in a blanket, was a girl.  
  
He placed a hand on her head and she looked up slowly, letting out a barely audible gasp when she saw his face. Frodo could see she'd been out there a long time; her dark hair was covered with ice, her lips were blue, and there were frozen traces of tears on her bright red cheeks. When she reached out to take the hand he offered her, she could hardly stand. Frodo quickly took off his coat and wrapped it gently around her, letting her keep her arms around herself. The girl swayed, and he caught her before she could fall.  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
The girl, taller than Frodo by a foot, shook her head.  
  
"Come on; let's get you out of here." Frodo knew she needed to be brought inside; the poor girl was nearly frozen. He led her gently out of the clearing and towards Bag End, shushing her gently whenever she shivered. She followed where he led her, never pulling away from him until he guided her inside, where she stood shivering.  
  
"Here...let's get you warm." Frodo led her to a tub in one of his guest bedrooms and sat her down while he filled it with steaming water. She watched him with still-confused brown eyes. "Will you be alright?" The girl nodded. 

"Thank you."  
  
Frodo smiled and left her to her privacy. _Frodo Baggins, what **has** gotten into your head, taking half-frozen young girls from the woods?_ Trying to find an answer, he went into the kitchen to make her some tea.

A/N: Here ya go! Thank you for your patience! Please go back and read chapter 1, it's all fixed and purty now :-) See you all next week!


	3. Infatuation

My first two chaps were rather short... hope this one is finally long enuff. :-)  
  
Chapter Three: Infatuation  
  
Frodo grimaced as he glanced out the kitchen window. The snowflakes were now nearly the size of teacups, and falling steadily, blown about by the wind. The air was so thick with snow that he could barely see where the snowy ground ended and the evening sky began.  
  
As he took the teakettle from the kitchen hearth and filled it, he realized that he couldn't have found the girl at a better moment. She was human, surely, and most definitely not familiar with any of her surroundings, but he couldn't have left her there to freeze. He would have done the same for anyone. (Well, perhaps not Ted Sandyman).  
  
All the same, Frodo was genuinely concerned about the matter of a human wandering into the woods in what he had discovered to be a (rather large) towel. She must have had clothing of some sort, mustn't she? And then there were the seemingly disembodied footprints, which made little sense to the baffled hobbit. Were they hers? Someone else's? Perhaps she'd been abandoned, or magicked into the tree......?  
  
:: :: :: :: :: :: ::  
  
Emily sat brooding in the tub, waiting for the tingling that always came from being seriously warmed after being cold to go away. Her whole body was numb. How long had she been in the snow?  
  
Sinking more deeply into the almost scalding water (but Oh! it felt wonderful!), she was suddenly filled with a mass of thoughts, none of them very pleasant. She was alone, without any form of communication, and, horrifyingly, she was stark naked in a stranger's house. Of course, he hadn't even come close to seeing her so, yet she was still mortified.  
  
He wasn't a stranger, though, not really. She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, who had brought her inside, and that confirmed her whereabouts. _So I'm not really lost, then...._ Did being in a world that came from the pages of a book count as being "lost"?  
  
And yet...everything around her screamed reality, even the water she was now sitting comfortably in. Her own body was real, unlike in her dreams.  
  
She sat until the water went cold, then stepped shakily out of the tub, a large wooden barrel not unlike the ones she'd bobbed for apples in at Halloween, and picked up her towel in an attempt to dry herself off. To her dismay, it was caked in ice. She looked around the room and saw a little bundle of brown (was it terrycloth?) fabric. She assumed it was a pile of towels; if not, well, it would have to do. She dried herself and stood with it wrapped securely around herself, wondering what in the world she was going to wear.  
  
There was a knock at the door, and Frodo stood politely in the doorway with a brown and white bundle. She blushed, as did he, although he very kindly averted his eyes. _I'm wearing a towel!!! Don't look away!! Please don't look away!_ Emily mentally kicked herself. She could drool over him later.  
  
"I, uh, brought you some clothes. I hope they'll fit?" Frodo said, laying the clothes on a chair.  
  
Emily, staring at him, jumped. "Oh...um...yes, thank you."  
  
Frodo smiled sheepishly and shut the door.  
  
The bundle, to Emily's inexplicable delight, turned out to be an extra shirt and pair of breeches of Frodo's. She felt the fabric, hating herself for the wicked thoughts that spun around her already confused-enough brain.  
  
His voice...she had been right. It had been him who had taken her out of the snow and filled a bath for her....and now she was wearing his clothes. She mentally kicked herself again. How could she even think this way? Her parents...she wanted them to know she was fine....of course, this was impossible. How would she get out? She didn't even know how she'd gotten in. Frodo had taken her in, given her his clothes, saved her life--  
  
Emily's heart was pounding abnormally fast, and she didn't know if it was from nerves.  
  
:: :: :: ::  
  
A/N: I'm back!! hehehe I think all my updates will most likely be on Saturdays now. I spent a LONG time writing this, I hope you all enjoyed it :-) I sincerely hope that by next chapter all Frodo's (and Em's) questions will be answered...Curse these stupid writer's block thingies...stealing my plot ideas...grrr.  
  
Reviews? ::gets down on knees and begs:: 


	4. Questions

(mumbles) writers block and it's 1 AM (mumble)

:: :: :: ::

Chapter Four: Questions  
  
Frodo was just putting the tea on the table as Emily wandered shyly into the kitchen and sat down in the chair he pulled out for her. She fit well at his table, surprisingly; a foot taller then he but barely having to bend forward.  
  
He watched her look around, incredibly amused at her expression and the way she was lightly rubbing her hand over the wooden table and chair, as if she'd never seen one before. She was so timid about it, and she was ignoring her tea, seemingly afraid to do anything until he invited her to.  
  
"Come on now, drink up. We can't have you ill." He said it kindly, but his eyes were distinctly laughing at her as he sat down across for her with his own.  
  
Emily looked gratefully at him and picked up her teacup, taking a sip, only to put it back down and stare at the table, gripping the cup tightly. Her eyes flicked up to Frodo's, but he wouldn't cease looking at her, and she looked down only to stare at him again until he broke the stolid silence.  
  
He was smirking. Was she that obvious? "Well now, don't stare. I'm only Frodo, no one special."  
  
"I know who you are."  
  
"You--how do you--?" Frodo looked surprised, but not angry.  
  
"Would you believe me if I told you that where I come from there was this man, a language professor, and he wrote a story about--Middle-Earth and Hobbits and you, and the ring, and your quest?" Emily stared at him anxiously.  
  
"Where _do_ you come from?"  
  
Emily didn't know quite how to answer this question. "It's called America. It doesn't exist here. I guess it's where the Havens are, if you want a place, but...it's not the Havens. It's..." _Another dimension? The future?_ She sighed. "I'm not making any sense, am I?"  
  
"Things don't always have to make sense. Most things don't." Frodo was struck by her accent. It wasn't anything he had ever heard before. Of course, he thought with a laugh, she probably felt similarly about his.  
  
"I guess not."  
  
"I must ask you...I hope you won't think I'm prying..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"How did you come here?"  
  
Frodo almost regretted asking. Emily was suddenly on the verge of tears. "I don't know! I was in the bathroom and I fell, and I hit my head, and I woke up in the woods and sort of just...hid in a tree...." She inhaled deeply and continued, "I don't know how I got here and I don't know how to get back."  
  
She was beginning to cry now. Frodo rushed to the other side of the table and put his hand on her head, taking her hands with the other.  
  
"Oh, no, don't cry now, it's alright." Emily sniffed. "You're going to stay here. You know who I am, and you trust me--I know you do--now finish your tea and then we can talk again?"  
  
Emily nodded. "Thanks. I'm sorry I cried, it's just--"  
  
"Don't think of it."  
  
"I'm Emily...in case you were wondering."  
  
"I was." He smiled at her. "Emily...that's rather unusual."  
  
That remark gave him a smile in return. Emily finished her tea and yawned. She was glad he liked her name.  
  
:: :: :: :: :: ::  
  
A/N: Hi y'all! OK, sorry its short and the end is weird, I know, I know....blah. It's 1 AM and my head hurts...  
  
::Hugs:: and thank-yous to the following:  
  
Dreamer-of-Fireflies  
Violet  
Hermione Heart  
Cabbywolf  
HelmsDeep2234  
  
Special thanks to:  
  
Eararadith: Me and Frodo, indeed...;-) We knew it would happen eventually ::glomps:: I luv yours keep it comin'  
Eleniline and Rhiannnon's Dream: You two know who you are and what I told you, ladies...so...mwueh :-P  
Loco-OMO- ::Ahem:: I know where you live!! (Cue creepy music)::waves map and does butcher knife-from-Psycho thing::

Yeah, Ok, there was one question a lot of you were asking and I don't think it was answered. This is after the War but before Frodo sails away to the Havens. KK, all settled now? Yay :-)  
  
You guys are awesome!(yes, OMO too :-D ) I feel so luved!  
  
Oh yeah, and another note that will come into play later: Frodo in this story is a combo of the book-movie version. More like the movie. The sexy, 19-year-old version. Yeah. Talks like book Frodo but looks like movie Frodo...Yeah. You'll learn why later...that and book Frodo happens to look like Elijah anyway, because I saw the movie first. Ok, I'll leave now ::runs away::  
  
Also, I have a present for you all that should be delivered ASAP: Chapter 1 of my new ficcy!! Shhhhhh it's a surprise so no title info or anything till it's up....  
  
God I'm so mean :-)  
  
Cheers and ZZZZZZZZs ::falls alseep with head on the keyboard::


	5. A Painful Comparison

**Chapter Five**

**A Painful Comparison**

:: :: ::

Emily had been startled after waking up in one of Bag End's guest bedrooms the morning after her arrival in the snow. She vaguely remembered the shower, the phone, the fall, the tea, but that was as far back as her memory of the night went. All she knew when she blinked the sleep out of her eyes was that her head was no longer hurting and her bed was abnormally warm, even for a winter morning.

Winter! Memory of the previous night rushed back to her (though the finer details were hazy) and she looked down at herself to see Frodo's very wrinkled shirt, which she had used as a nightgown. The rest of the clothes he'd given her lay in a heap next to the bedside table.

Emily looked around the room again, taking in the arched, cream-colored ceiling, trimmed with wood, the round window to the left of the bed, the dark wood floor, the small wooden desk with a quill, ink, and paper (though she couldn't image why that would be in a bedroom reserved for visitors), the (also round) brown door to the right. One thought stuck firmly in her brain: _I'm in a Hobbit-hole_!

::: ::: ::: ::: ::: :::

Frodo knocked just as Emily was finishing making the bed.

"Wait, don't come in!" She hastily grabbed for Frodo's pants and tripped headlong over a chair, falling on top of it and gaining a huge bruise on her right leg. When Frodo burst in on the resulting tangle of furniture, arms and legs, and clothes, he was hard put to keep himself from laughing.

Emily was sitting on (or, rather _in_) the bedside table chair, her feet hanging over the side, pants halfway on, face incredibly red, and she was very obviously stuck. He reached down to pull her out of the chair and turned it back upright, his face still sporting an unmistakable smirk as she yanked his pants on, blushing furiously.

"You alright?"

"Yeah..." Emily was wincing as she examined her knee, which was now a pale shade of purple. She inhaled sharply and poked at it gingerly. "Oowwww..."

Frodo was still forcing himself not to laugh. "What happened here?"

Emily glared at him. "I fell over a chair and lost my dignity _and_ all feeling in my leg." She tried bending her knee and winced. "And, possibly all forms of motion, too." Frodo couldn't help but notice Emily's faint grin; it had twitched itself onto her face despite herself as she limped towards the chair and sat down to examine her knee again.

"So you're not alright."

"No, I'm fine." Emily got off the chair and leaned against the wall with one hand, the other still prodding her knee. Frodo distinctly heard her mumble another "ouch" under her breath as she hobbled out into the hall, clearly in pain but refusing to ask for help. She was being shy again.

"At least put something on it for the swelling, Emily."

"Okay, okay..."

Emily went to the door and disappeared outside. She returned with a small snowball pressed over her knee. Frodo was smirking again. "Good." He sat across from her at the kitchen table and watched her fidget with the snow. He noticed she was deliberately avoiding his eyes.

She was rather pretty, he thought. She had shoulder-length reddish-brown hair, dark brown eyes (when he was able to see them), and a rather turned-up nose with freckles, and she looked very young.

"Well," he said, "Sam and Rosie should be getting up soon and he'll want to do breakfast today. Why don't you tell me about yourself?"

Emily looked surprised. "Doesn't Sam make breakfast every day?"

Frodo laughed. "Well, he _would_, but every so often he has me cook, as a joke...I've never been much good with food, really."

Emily was staring at him. _Oh, great, he's humoring me... _"Really? I always thought...the book said you were a good cook..."

"Tell me about this book, then. I'm curious about it, from what you said last night. And you seem to take it to heart, do you not?"

"I do! But...I've only read it, like...once...and now... I mean...I don't know how true it actually is..."

"Well, we'll see...what is it about?"

Emily hesitated for only a second. Frodo was pulling her into a conversation she could immerse herself in any day and would never tire of. "Umm...well, you, I guess."

"What, you mean the Red Book of--"

"No! It mentions it, though."

Frodo was beginning to look at Emily as though he found her slightly mad. She did not notice, and continued, "I don't know how to explain it, exactly. It's called 'Lord of the Rings', and-- what?"

Frodo had just stood up, and was staring directly at her. "Lord of the-- wait a moment--" He walked briskly out of the kitchen, leaving Emily sitting at the table, bewildered. He returned a minute later with a large, red cloth-bound book with a silver star centered on its front cover, and laid it in front of her. Emily knew that book. It was the Red Book of Westmarch; Frodo's biography, his graphic retelling of the War of the Ring and beyond; the book she had always wished was in actual existence but had never been published.

Frodo sat back down and pushed the book towards her. "Do you know what this is?"

"Yes!" Emily reached for it, wanting to open it, to see if it was true. "I mean--it's the Red Book, right?"

"It is. How did you--does this story tell of it?"

"Yeah, it...can I read it?"

Frodo looked at her.

"Please?" Emily had already placed her hand on the cover, and Frodo had to say yes.

The moment the word left Frodo's lips, Emily pulled the book towards her and opened to the first page with shaking hands, silently praying that she would see what she was expecting to see. Her heart leapt when she saw the title, written in the center of the parchment in black ink:

_**The Downfall**_

_**of the **_

_**Lord of the Rings**_

_**and the**_

_**Return of the King**_

"Yes! I knew it! This is it!" Emily tore her eyes away from the title page and looked at Frodo, speaking very fast.

"Didn't you write this?"

"Yes...but I still don't understand...what is this book that mentions the War?"

So Emily launched into as accurate an explanation as she could of **_Lord of the Rings_** and **_The Hobbit_**, and the stories that went with them, pausing constantly to ask Frodo if something was true or had really happened the way it had been written, or if a character actually resembled their paper counter-self, and what everything had felt like. Frodo, on the other hand, though at first reluctant to retell such tales to a stranger, soon gave Emily his account of the War, and his own part in it. Emily had nearly lost her shyness, and was on the point of asking if Ithilien was as beautiful as it had been made out to be when her question was punctuated by the entrance of Sam.

"Good morning, Mister Frodo! Did you sle--oh...who's _this_?"

Emily, again shy, returned her attention to her neglected knee.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

I'm back! Firstly, my apologies to all for my long absence, I haven't been able to think about anything other than my kids I take care of at camp, among other distractions(i.e., self-teaching myself guitar and doing a very slow job on my summer reading--_Julius Caesar_ isn't the most interesting play in the world...::sigh::)....but its all over now and I can start updating again! I know you've all been waiting for this, and it's here now!

I also put up the first chapter of my Artemis Fowl/Harry Potter fic a while ago, but that fic is unfortunately temporarily dead until I figure out what to do with it next :-( I'd appreciate if you read the first chapter and tell me what you think of it, and if you even think a twist like that is worth continuing. I've also been writing a one-chapter version of LOTR from the point of view of the Ring itself, but I'm being deliberately slow with everything, not just , so that might be a while, but it **is** coming.

HelmsDeep2234--do I get my cookies now?? ::grin::


	6. Explanations

A/N: Oh my GOD, it's really hard to write and listen to Jason Mraz ::drool:: at the same time...especially when you can't help but sing along with the CD at the top of your lungs...::massages brain::

_Who needs shelter from the sun..._

OH, GOD, MAKE IT STOP!! I MEAN...NOOOO LEAVE IT ON!!!

I'll just go now, shall I? ::slinks away::

::comes back and snatches the CD, then slinks away again:: Hey, cool, he's talking to a chicken....

* * *

**Chapter Six: Explanations **

Sam stared at the figure with the disheveled hair and wrinkled clothes, curled into a ball in the chair across from his master. Except for Rose (who was at the moment visiting her father), he was not accustomed to seeing women in the house, least of all young ones. The prospect of a strange girl in his house had him frightened for two reasons: firstly, Frodo, as generous as he was, was not one to aid strangers without a valid reason, and a reason, at that, that would have been made known to Sam; secondly, this girl's eyes were boring into him with a gentle ferocity he had almost forgotten was possible in a person. Neither of these reasons for fear, however, were going to answer the question of why Frodo was sitting in the kitchen with her, which was really what had surprised him when he'd ambled in.

Frodo, on the other hand, could see that Emily was not going to speak any time soon, and so took charge of settling Sam's confusion.

"This is Emily, Sam. She's going to be staying here for a while."

Emily, who had until now remained silent, preoccupied with her knee, jumped so quickly she nearly fell off the chair. "I am?" Last night's discussion with Frodo had not included any mention of how long she would be staying. It had been on Frodo's mind, but after two cups of tea Emily had started to fall asleep at the table and the idea had been neglected.

Frodo winked at her, giving her a look that plainly said, "Duh," and turned back to Sam, who was looking back and forth between himself and Emily, clearly confused. "Oh, come on, Sam...haven't you seen a girl before?" Frodo grinned at him, amused. "Here...go on and make us all breakfast; then we'll sort things out and I'll tell you why there's one in the kitchen," he laughed.

* * *

Breakfast was very enjoyable, and though Sam's cooking was remarkably good, with an abundance of eggs and sausages, Emily only picked at her food. After several minutes of urging her to eat and failing, Frodo finally gave up, figuring that she would eat if she was hungry, and held himself to his promise to explain everything. Hoping he could provoke Emily explaining herself as well, he addressed her more often than Sam, telling Sam simply that he'd found her in a tree the night before, wearing only a towel, and he was not about to let her freeze to death.

Sam looked good-naturedly across at Emily and asked, gently, but still obviously surprised, "You were naked?"

Emily blushed. "I came out of the shower."

"Didn't you have any clothes?"

"No." Frodo could sense Emily becoming rather uncomfortable with the fact that she'd been found without clothing, and she had good reason to be. Trying to prevent Sam from embarrassing her even more, he steered the conversation towards where he'd left off with her before breakfast.

"She knows, Sam."

"Knows what?"

"Everything." Frodo looked at Emily for verification, and she nodded. "About this," he said, indicating the Red Book.

Sam looked startled. "But...it's not finished yet!"

"I know, Sam. But she knows. We were discussing it when you came in. Apparently there is a book that mentions this one." Frodo nodded at Emily as if to tell her he was not going to tell her story for her, and she looked at Sam, resigned to telling her story again. She told Sam what she had already told Frodo about **_Lord of the Rings_**, then about the franchise of films and action figures, which neither of them understood. She concluded with a nervous "The weird thing is, they looked exactly like you."

By now, both Frodo and Sam were thoroughly spooked.

It was Frodo, once again, who broke the silence. "Then-- you knew who Samwise was, I trust?"

Emily looked slightly apologetic. "I did, yeah." She looked at Sam and grinned. "You're everything I thought you were."

Sam didn't quite know how to take that. Frodo nudged him. "It's a compliment, Sam."

"Oh."

Emily giggled.

* * *

As Emily and the two Hobbits cleared the table later, their conversation turned to the subject of getting Emily some other clothes. Sam suggested going down to Bagshot Row and "borrowing" something of his sisters'.

"I'm sure the Gaffer kept some of May and Daisy's old clothes from when they was teens. I don't think they'll mind givin' 'em away too much. You're right about that size, I think," he told Emily. Frodo agreed.

Frodo went to see Sam out the door, and Emily, not surprisingly, followed. "You coming?" he asked her.

"No, thanks." Frodo waved Sam off and shut the door. "He'll be a while; the Gaffer always finds something for him to do at the house." He chuckled. "I suppose you'll be pleased to change out of my old rags, eh?"

Emily looked down at the old clothes of Frodo's she was wearing and noticed for the first time that there was a ragged rip near the left sleeve, with a faint brown stain that looked like it could once have been blood. Frodo must have worn this when he had been stabbed. There was another hole slightly under the collar. Shelob? Her heart was pounding again. Frodo's voice cut into her thoughts.

"...settled, I'll find an extra comb for you..." He walked away through the hall and left her standing by the door. So that was it, she was staying. She shook her head and looked up at the ceiling, fighting the urge to pinch herself. She hoped her stay would be indefinite.

* * *

Ok, people, this chapter took me 6 HOURS! ::astonished mumbles:: Yes, yes, I know...I'm a slow thinker...that was two complete Jason Mraz's, plus an IM, plus having to give my mom the computer for five minutes...and THEN, those cute things I used as dividers ran away somewhere and I had to find something new ( it took me ten minutes before I realized the quickeditor has a page break button) ::cries:: so much torture to my precious eyes! But for once, I have the next chapter completely planned out already! And because I feel generous tonight, I'll give you a heads up on what it involves :-D

Two words: SNOWBALL FIGHT

That's all for now, folks! Damn, I'm incredibly, incredibly evil.

New chapter _very _soon! Before Wednesday, I hope, which is when HIGHSCHOOL (nooooooo!!!!) starts, and then I have to crunch for time on weekends, if I'm even allowed on the computer at all, which right now isn't likely.

Anyway, much love to all, I **_will_** be back soon!


	7. Vengeance

**Chapter Seven: Vengeance **

Frodo Baggins was not one to seek revenge. Even the deepest of injuries were dealt with by simply overlooking them, as with his reputation for madness. Every so often, though, he exchanged his gentlehobbitly ways for complete idiocy and allowed himself to have just a bit too much fun. And somehow, his cousins' hysterics at the pub the previous night had triggered his "gone much too far" instincts, and he felt that _something_ was going to have to be done. After all, he could not let the fact that they had successfully annoyed him stand for much longer. Getting him drunk was one thing. Stuffing heads in snowdrifts was quite another. Revenge in this case would be inevitable.

Going into his room to fetch his coat, scarf, and gloves, he looked out the window to check the conditions. It had stopped snowing, which meant vision would be clear on both sides, and two and a half feet of snow blanketed the already frozen ground. There would be no chance of either side running out of "weapons", in any case...

Merry and Pippin came to call nearly every day with some odd antic or other, and either Frodo or Sam could always guarantee to be involved somehow; these things were expected of the four. Frodo would just "not be home" when his cousins came trouncing up today. A sneak attack; there would be no escape for anyone (not even himself, unless he could conjure up an attempt, but it really did not matter).

He went outside and climbed the hill that made up Bag End's roof, selecting a hiding spot behind the tree in its center. He then proceeded to stock up with as many snowballs as would fit in his hideout without causing any noticeable spots of missing snow, and sat back behind the tree. From up there, anyone coming up the walk would be in perfect view.

He could see them, but they would not be able to see him. Perfect.

* * *

"A _human_ girl? In the shire?" 

May Gamgee was finding it difficult to believe her brother. Somehow or other the story of a human girl just "appearing" in the middle of a forest without anything to wear, although surely not something Sam would make up, had its flaws.

"I know, May. But I promise you, it's true. Me and Mister Frodo had breakfast with her, not ten minutes ago. She was lookin' at us awful strange, too. Like she ain't never seen a livin' body before."

"But why--" May looked nervously over at the Gaffer, who disapproved of anything he could not understand. "Why would he take her in like that? Sam--"

"Because Mister Frodo is the gentlehobbit none of us ever could be," cut in the Gaffer. "If he wants to rescue stark naked girls from dyin' that's plum alright with me, so as he don't do anything stupid with them." Sam could not help but notice the faint signs of disgust of on his father's face. "Go on, May, it's not like you need them old dresses anyway."

"Dad--"

Sam interrupted his sister's pleas with a wink. "May...how're you going to see if it's true if you don't come back with me?"

May glared at Sam. She hated when he cornered her like that. And to make matters worse, the Gaffer was on Frodo's side. Although he was right...she did not need her old clothes. And humans in the Shire were about as rare an occurrence as could be. Knowing she was won over, and being kind in her own right, curiosity got the better of her and she rose from the rocking chair where she had been knitting. Sam made to follow her.

"_You_ stay right where you are, Samwise Gamgee! It is not for gentlehobbits to pick out clothing for a lady."

"Since when? I pick out Rosie's clothes for her all the time!"

"Well--" May had no comeback for this, and hit Sam on the shoulder. He hit her back, smirking.

"Cut it out, you two! You ain't kids, so stop behavin' like them," laughed the Gaffer. "And May, I know Mister Frodo won't mind bein' kept waiting, but don't you think it's about time you got them dresses fixed?"

May grinned at her father and brother and went into her bedroom.

"I still say you've lost your minds, all three of you."

May kept old clothing she had outgrown or found too ugly for her liking in a satchel under her bed. She drew the satchel out and opened it. There was a surprisingly larger amount of cloth than she had expected.

Sam had said the girl was Human, which meant, of course, that she was also going to be several feet taller than May herself, so May chose three dresses with the longest skirts she could find. When she had worn them, these skirts had come to just above her ankles; Humans tended to have much longer legs and she was not sure how high up the skirts would come on the girl, but they would have to do. May stood proud at 3-foot-four; this girl was at least a foot taller.

Figuring that the girl would be slim, as well as tall, May decided that alterations would be necessary. Grinning with the satisfaction that even after over twenty years she was still able to be one-up on her little brother, she found her sewing-basket, made sure she had enough fabric, and put the dresses inside. Not wanting to carry it all in one hand, she dumped the remaining contents of the satchel out on her bed and put the sewing basket in their place.

When she walked out into the hall with the satchel, Sam looked at it in awe. "What do you need all that for? It's only dresses!"

May rolled her eyes at him. "Samwise Gamgee, if you aren't the biggest dolt I've ever seen I don't know what is. Is the girl Human or not?"

"Well, yes, she is but...just how many dresses are you bringin' her?"

"Sam. There is more than just dresses in this bag. If I was bringin' her _twelve_ dresses I would still bring my sewing basket."

May's speech was getting her nowhere. It was not Sam's fault; he was not stupid by any means, and she loved him dearly. But sometimes it was a marvel to her how many things had to be nudged in his face before he would notice them. Finally she gave up and pointed out the obvious question. "How tall is she, Sam? Did you even _look_ to see before you came gallivanting down here to ask for my help?"

She smirked at Sam. She'd caught him again. "Well?"

Sam looked confused. "She's about...about...perhaps five feet, I'd say," he said, though he looked doubtful.

"Well then, Samwise, explain to me how she can be five feet tall and still be my size," May laughed at Sam as they both put on their coats and left the house.

* * *

Frodo peeped out from his hiding place behind Bag End's tree and grinned. Two little figures were dancing up the walk, taking it in turns to smack each other on top of the head and then run ahead, making the other slam into the person in front. Frodo laughed. He would know those two anywhere. 

He leaned back behind the tree as they came within distance of the door and quietly bent down to grasp a snowball in each hand. Then he tiptoed up to the very edge of the roof and squatted down, his arms out directly above the heads of his visitors. It was not very good of a hiding spot, but he doubted he would be seen until he moved. No one ever looked up to the roof.

Meriadoc Brandybuck reached the door first. He stepped up to the door, made a great show of straightening his jacket and standing stiffly with his arms at his sides, and raised an arm to knock on the door three times. Frodo stopped himself from snorting. It was terribly comical, Merry pretending to be stopping by on business.

When there was no answer at the door, Pippin took over. He charged up to the door, pushed his cousin out of the way, and banged on the door with both fists at least eleven times, both Hobbits laughing. Not hearing an answer from this, either, Merry leaned against the door with one elbow and crossed his legs. "It's very rude of him to keep us waiting, don't you think, Pip?"

It was at this very moment that each Hobbit felt something wet, very cold, and soft hit his head squarely in the center.

* * *

Frodo had given Emily instructions not to answer the door. This, of course, was something that she would have thought went without saying, partly because she would not know what to say to visitors and partly because she was his guest and guests did not intrude on personal business. He had left without telling her or Sam what he would be doing, so when Merry and Pippin arrived and pounded on the door, Emily sat rigidly at the table, afraid to get up and peer out the window for fear of being seen, although she was itching to see who was coming. She was alone in Bag End, and that bothered her. 

She did not have to wait very long. She heard jumbled laughing, voices, and two thuds. There was an annoyed yell, a pause-- then two curly heads zoomed past the kitchen window. A third head followed right behind them. Was that--_Frodo_?

She was on the verge of getting up to look when Sam walked in with a woman not much shorter than he was and bore a striking resemblance to him, though she was rather plumper and had slightly darker hair. She too had a surprised but good-natured face when she noticed Emily, but unlike Sam she did not freeze in her tracks. Emily thought for one wild moment that it was Rosie, but no, she would have come to breakfast.

"Hullo there, Miss Emily," Sam said. He had remembered her name; she was surprised, but pleased. "This is my big sister May. She's got some things for you from home. But you knew who she was already, didn't you?" he asked, winking at Emily as she and May shook hands.

"Um...actually no," Emily mumbled. "It's nice to meet you."

May softened instantly. "You're a shy one, aren't you?" she chuckled. "What's all this about knowing who I was?"

"I'll tell you later," Emily said as she followed May into her bedroom and May shut the door in Sam's face.

* * *

Outside, Frodo's revenge was not going quite as well as he had planned. He should have known it was hopeless to win a two-against-one battle where neither side was able to move very quickly through snowdrifts nearly as tall as he himself. 

He had spent the last twenty minutes lobbing crudely packed globs of snow at his cousins, who, although their snowballs were harder and better made, his abnormal lack of weight made him much faster than they were.

The battle had begun immediately after Frodo dropped a snowball on each of his cousins' annoyingly large heads. After Merry and Pippin's initial shock, Frodo had bolted down off the roof, pursued by both. When he disappeared and returned with more snowballs, Merry and Pippin dodged away from him, past the kitchen window, oblivious to the shadow inside. Frodo chased them up and down Bag End, until all three Hobbits were finally running every which way across the walk and around the hill, pelting each other with snow, Merry and Pippin aiming at Frodo and Frodo throwing everywhere. If any curious neighbors had heard the commotion and attempted to look outside, they would have decided that that mad old Frodo Baggins had finally cracked.

"Ooomph!" Frodo, dancing away from Merry while being threatened with an ice chip, tripped and fell smack on his back. Merry and Pippin were on him immediately. Pippin dropped a snowball on Frodo's face, making him cough, then grabbed one of his arms while Merry grabbed the other. Both Hobbits then proceeded to sit on top of him.

Between trying to blow snow out of his face and keep himself from inhaling any, Frodo, pinned immovably underneath his cousins, managed to choke out, "No--no fair--::cough::--you che--cheated! ::cough:: Get--off!"

His pleading was ignored. Each of his captors grabbed an arm and rubbed it up and down through the snow, calling him "Frodo the Little Snow Angel" and drawing a halo in the snow over his head with a stick.

"I think our Frodo looks quite nice this way, don't you, Pip?"

"Oh, yes, ever so much better than before we fixed him!" Pippin pinched Frodo's red cheeks and tickled his nose. Frodo narrowed his eyes.

"Look at him, Merry, he's adorable. Should we take him home with us?"

"Oh, I don't know...he's rather peaky and I really don't feel like sharing."

Frodo glared at them as best he could while lying down.

"I say we just leave him here--oy!!"

Frodo had just yanked himself out of the snow, flinging Pippin off and halfway across the walk, and lunged at Merry, grabbing him by the collar of his jacket and pinning him upright against the door.

"THAT, you little sod, was completely uncalled for!"

Merry simply stood smirking and waited for Frodo to crack up laughing. He did no have to wait very long. Frodo stood glaring at him for another thirty seconds, then relaxed his grip and let go, chuckling.

"You--"

Whatever Frodo had been about to say was prevented and Merry and Pippin each threw another snowball at him, then pounced on him and pulled him down into the snow.

* * *

If there was one thing May Gamgee prided herself on, it was her skill at sewing. Emily stood in front of the mirror, goggling at herself in a pale yellow, quarter-sleeve blouse underneath a grey dress with a puffy brown skirt that reached halfway between her knees and her ankles. 

May had had to add a foot and a half of fabric to each layer of the skirt and take the blouse in two inches, but all in all the outfit fit quite well, especially with the grey outer corset keeping Emily from sliding around in the blouse. Both girls were rather pleased with themselves.

Looking at herself in this outfit, with her hair combed and pulled into two braids, Emily found it hard to believe she was human; albeit a human in a Hobbit dress. May sat working on the second outfit, smiling as she watched Emily twirl around in front of the mirror like a young child playing dress-up.

_Oh, dear_, she thought to herself. _Poor Frodo will have a hard time keeping himself away from her. I do hope he doesn't do anything rash..._

"Arrrggghhh!"

Emily and May turned their heads towards the sound of the laughter and were barely able to make out the shadow next to a tree that was Frodo trapped under Merry and Pippin, who were laughing, mercilessly pelting him with snow while he struggled to escape.

Emily looked both concerned and amused as she looked wistfully out the window.

"Oh, go join them, dear. This won't take me long now I know what size you are. Sam will keep me company, it's alright."

Emily smiled at her and almost ran towards the bedroom door.

"Do try not to scare them when you get out there!" May called after Emily as she bolted out and collided with Sam.

When Emily reached the door, she opened it and stood looking upon the strangest scene she had ever witnessed.

Frodo was pinned to the ground against a frozen tree, struggling to move as two Hobbits stood over him, covering him with snow and taunting him. She had a feeling she knew which two Hobbits they were.

Two against one? Merry and Pippin were about to become very sorry indeed, she told herself. Frodo would not lose. Not if she could help it.

* * *

Hey hey, everyone! The interesting things have begun to happen...:-D Okay, another slightly corny ending, whatever! I am not to be blamed...that much... 

**InterstellarHobbit:** I admit I hadn't really thought about that too much...ehhh...but if you look at Hobbits in terms of body size (waist thickness, bust size, etc), and not height, there's almost no difference (at least, I don't think there is...). But since Hobbits tend to be fatter than Humans, even if the skirts are too short the dresses themselves would be a bit big for Emily anyway. And, no, she isn't 8, she's 14 and about 8 inches taller than Frodo, but still not the tallest girl in the world; thought I'd clarify :-). But going back, she wore Frodo's clothes and they fit alright. So somehow, in this story, the size difference works! :-) And you've given me an idea, actually...

**HelmsDeep2234:** Omg, sorry about that fire! Was everyone okay?? That fall DID hurt! It's actually based on two things, if you're interested :-D When I was in my 8th grade school play, there was a blackout and my (incredibly bitchy) director wouldn't turn on the backstage lights, so when we all piled off the stage guess who tripped and fell headlong over a wooden box and ripped open her leg?? :-D And also, when I was writing that last chapter I was watching Pirates of the Caribbean, and I've always loved the part where Elizabeth's father knocks on her door to wake her up and she trips over her chair when she gets her robe :-) I have issues with these things...

**ilfirin912**: A new reviewer!!! Yayy!!! lol Thanks so much!!! Glad you like!!! Yeah, common names are sucky, aren't they? I know 4 Emilys off the top of my head as well...only one is my friend but whatever...yes! Elijah could beat Ashton in a hotness/charming-ness/talent match any day! :-) Anyways, please keep reading, and I know this sounds like I'm begging but would you review my other fic as well?

**Lady Fae** and **Crecy:** Two more newbies! Thanks so much to both of you!! :-)

**Eleniline** and **Eararadith**: Y'all don't get no more thanks yous up in here :-D Since I get to thank you in person like every day :-) I worship the IM god with you ::sighs happily:: (plus the fact you both are two of my bestest friends in the world and I go to your houses a lot) This is the last time you'll be mentioned up here!!

See guys? That was only, like, a week this time...you can't say I didn't deliver!!!

The fact that I only wrote this so Eleniline would do her homework on time is beyond the point. I myself had Evanescence to keep me going. Hah.

Okay. I changed my penname. I'Haldaandir got boring :- So, I am now **evil.chicken...hobbit.girl...thingy**(except with underscores where the ... is)!!! Wooo!!! ::runs away because people are laughing::

School started on the 1st and I am officially a HS freshman now!!!! GO PENGUINS!!! Btw this means I get no computer time ::cries:: so this will be the last update until...I dunno when...but the next chapter will have the conclusion of le snowball fight, where it will now be two-on-two. Who wins, I wonder? So you have something to look forward to, at any rate. :-)

I love you all, you guys have been so good to me! much love until next time! ::blows kisses and skips away::


End file.
